1) Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt - Steel Cage Match
The first few encounters these two had weren't that great, but I felt like something really clicked here. From the opening bell, these two put on a match that kept me interested throughout, depsite the fact that I wasn't too intrigued going into it. Jericho's crossbody off the top of the cage was amazing and the way he began selling the knee was perfect. I had mixed feelings on how the match ended with Bray falling out of the cage door while still struggling with Jericho, none the less, this was still a very good match. Much better than I anticipated. Still think these guys are capable of more though. Best match of their feud so far.
Dolph Ziggler exposes The Miz & Damien Sandow
This was a pretty funny segment. Since the show started with a near 20 minute long match, I figured we'd get a lighthearted segment here and thats just what we got. The feud between Ziggler and Miz has been very enjoyable and the addition of Damien Sandow has made it even better. I may not like how WWE is using Sandow, but he certainly turns everything he's given to gold. Fun segment.
2) AJ Lee & Paige vs. Natalya & Rosa Mendes
My first complaint of the review comes with this match. First off, it's become clear to me that WWE hasn't put ANY effort or thought into the feud between Paige & AJ. They go from being friendly rivals to enemies to "frenemies" and now they're teaming together again?! This story is going around in circles. What made me even more bad as that once again this match was very short when it could've been better if given time. I could watch Paige and Natalya wrestle each other all day and they only got one exchange here, but they made the most out of it. This segment was a waste of time because no progress was made in the story between Paige & AJ just more garbage booking. Paige's facial expressions were on point however. She continues to work hard to make this good, but unfortunately the horrible booking is too much for even her to overcome.
Paul Heyman / John Cena confrontation
After becoming uninterested thanks to that horribly booked Divas segment, I needed something to draw me back in and this was the perfect segment to do so. Heyman was as compelling as ever on the microphone and Cena held up on his end as well. I was glued to my TV screen for the entire 20 minutes that these two were on and that's a good thing. Fantastic segment.
3) Seth Rollins vs. Sheamus
I was kind of excited for this match because Rollins is great and Sheamus is underrated, but as soon as Cesaro came out, I knew where this was going. Despite that, Rollins and Sheamus kept me entertained and the outcome was better than I expected. Cesaro's attack on Sheamus after the match was gold. He continues to turn everything he's given to gold. When will WWE wake up and give him what he deserves - a major push.
4) Adrian Neville & Sami Zayn vs. Tyson Kidd & Tyler Breeze
Words can't describe how excited I was to see these guys on my TV screen when Raw returned from a commercial break. I was a big fan of Zayn & Neville on the Indies so seeing them on national TV was just surreal. I'm also a fan of Kidd & Breeze so I was stoked for them as well. This was the action packed tag match that you would expect from these four and I enjoyed every second of it. Zayn got several chants including "Let's Go Sami" and even an "Ole!" chant which I marked hard for. Good showcase for all four guys. I hope they get called up soon. The main roster needs them.
Jerry Springer's Intervention With the Bella Twins
This wasn't as horrible as I expected, but it was still bad. I lost all interest in this program on the week before SummerSlam when Brie got arrested. From that point on, this thing has been way too corny. I guess all I can say about this segment is that it did what it set out to do - get Jerry Springer on TV in an attempt to bring in viewers.
5) Gold & Stardust vs. Los Matadores
Dud. Los Matadores have never been relevant in their entire careers and it was obvious that the Dust Bros would get the win here. The show really started getting dull at this point. The Bellas segment was bad and this match was totally uninteresting. The Rhodes Bros are doing a fantastic job as heels though. I hope they get the titles at NOC.
6) Titus O'Neil vs. Adam Rose
Slater Gator has been a favorite of mine since they were put together so obviously I enjoyed this segment. I can't stand the Adam Rose gimmick, but the stuff with the Bunny was pretty funny. Anything to keep Slater Gator on TV is fine by me. Entertaining segment.
7) Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns
These two started things off slow with Orton playing the wise veteran by working over Reigns for a good 10 minutes or more. At about the 15 minute mark this one began to get dull, but the two pulled a pretty dramatic ending sequence that drew my attention. Just as soon as things picked up and I was interested, Kane and Seth Rollins hit the ring with a ton of personnel. I'm not complaining though because the closing beatdown was pretty cool. Rollins continues to improve with his storytelling abilities and being placed with Orton & Kane is doing wonders for him. Decent match, great closing segment.
Overall thoughts: This show was a nice improvement from last week. The last two weeks actually now that I think about it. That's not to say that this was my ideal episode of Monday Night Raw, but I did enjoy it more than I expected to. The Steel Cage Match was very good and the closing segment was outstanding as well. Those two things combined with an epic promo battle between Paul Heyman & John Cena and a well booked IC/US Title picture made for a solid show.
No comments:
Post a Comment